What is EFPS – How to Use Electronic Filing and Payment System

The government of the Philippines issued the Revenue Regulation (RR)-2001 on August 01, 2001 which introduced an Electronic Filing and Payment System (EFPS) to give a more convenient method of filing and payment of taxes for the tax payers. They just need to enroll with the EFPS application of the BIR and maintain online banking facility that integrated the Electronic Filing and Payment System. The e-FPS can be accessed at http://efps.bir.gov.ph or http://ebirforms.bir.gov.ph.

The objective of the system is to reduce costs and paper flow and to provide taxpayers the convenience in filing their returns and payments. It also improve security for payments of taxes and enhance and facilitate processing of tax returns. Then the tax returns data at source can be captured which leads to increased and improved reliability of returns data

FEATURES OF EFPS

The features of the Electronic Filing and Payment System of the BIR are the following:

It is fast;

Convenient;

Secure;

Free; and

User Friendly

The system is fast for the reason that it is pre-filled information, does automatic calculations and has instant filing confirmation. Convenient for the tax payers because they can file anytime, anywhere and e-payment due dates are 5 days after the manual filing (for selected returns). It is secure because data transmission is already encrypted and it employs multi-level access control such as username, password and challenge questions. It is free for it does not require enrollment fee, usage fee and postage or courier expense. And lastly, it is User-Friendly because it has online guides, FAQs and pop-up messages.

Things you need in order to use the BIR EFPS

A desktop PC or a Laptop - a low powered laptop would do.

A decent internet connection - it's better if you have fast internet speed

The Pre-requisites for using EFPS

Before using the Electronic Filing and Payment System, you need to have the following:

Must be registered with BIR

Letter of intent

TIN which is pre-loaded in EFPS database

Enrollment to e-FPS(filing)

Enrollment to chosen Authorized Agent Banks e-payment system

The BIR has already issued regulations for who are required to file and pay through the EFPS for their tax liabilities. And in general those listed below are the ones who are required to enroll in the e-FPS:

Large taxpayers

Non-large taxpayers that belong to the top 20000 corporations

Top 5000 individual taxpayers

Corporation who paid-up capital stock of Php 10 million and above

Independent contractors that are bidding on government jobs

EFPS has already been implemented years ago but still hasn't been applied by lots of taxpayers. The knowledge and capability of the taxpayers in using the system will be the greatest challenge in utilizing its usefulness.

Steps in Enrolling to EFPS

Step 5: The eFPS online enrollment form appears. Complete the required fields on the Enrollment Form page. Then, click on the "Submit" button.

Step 6: Submit to BIR an authorization/certificate authorizing any three (3) officersDESIGNATED TO FILE THE RETURN

EFPS will inform you thru a pop-up message that your enrollment has been successfully received.

Then you have to WAIT FOR AN EMAIL MESSAGE FROM BIR informing you of the status of your enrollment whether approved or disapproved. Once your account has been activated, you are ready to e-file and e-pay, and perform all the functions within eFPS.

It is important for you to remember, as well as the correct answer to the CHALLENGE QUESTION. Remember your USERNAMEandPASSWORD. Keep your username, password and challenge question answer to yourself. Do not make it easy to guess, nor write it down.